2021
Hyuna MOON

Citation: Moon, Hyuna. 2021 Searching for a Possibility of Caring Masculinities: Focusing on the Cases of Male Family Carers. Journal of Korean Women’s Studies DOI: 10.30719/JKWS.2021.09.37.3.33
Language: Korean 
Publisher: KOREAN ASSOCIATION OF WOMEN’S STUDIES
Publishing Date: 2021. 09. 30

Abstract:   This paper aims to search for a possibility of caring masculinities based on the experiences of men caring children or elderlies. Male carers are a few in number. Nevertheless, the fact that male carers exist can be a sign of change, a fissure in the hegemonic masculinities. Unlike previous studies which considered male child carers and male elderly carers separately, this paper attempts an integrated approach examining both types of male carers. In other words, this paper seeks to examine a possibility of caring masculinities focusing on the care in a relational sense and not the care distinguished by the types of care receiver. It is too early to say that this fissure in the hegemonic masculinities would lead to an expansion of new caring masculinities and eventually a creation of new masculinity. Be that as it may, with an optimistic but critical examination of the realities faced by male carers and their socio-cultural structures, this paper searches for a possibility of a social change where everyone shares the responsibility of care, not passing the burden from women to men.